What will be the influence of TTIP on the education sector in the EU?

On July 8, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Trade Agreement with the US (TTIP), despite protests from constituents. Thus, TTIP Negotiations moved to the 10th Round, which took place in Brussels from 13 to 17 July 2015.

ESU as well as other like-minded organisation and interest groups are concerned about the possible consequences of the negotiations on education and training sectors. We are glad to see that the Parliament voted on Helga Trüpels’ amendement with 373 votes in favour, 336 against and 1 abstention. This means that the European Parliament officially calls the European Commission to exclude non-profit educational services from the scope of the TTIP.

Here is the amendment in question: Amendment 16 “to ensure with a general clause the right of EU Member States to adopt or maintain any measure with regard to the provision of all educational and cultural services which work on a non-profit basis and/or receive public funding to any degree or state support in any form, and to ensure that privately funded foreign providers meet the same quality and accreditation requirements as domestic providers”.